SECOND LIEUTENANT DONALD BRYANT WASON; U.S. ARMY

DOB/DOD: June 2, 1919 (Greenwich, CT) – June 9, 1944; 25 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Eleanor A. Brown (1920-2013) on February 4, 1943, in Byram, CT
LOCAL ADDRESS: Wife, Eleanor Wason, lived at 53 Wall Street, Norwalk
ENLISTMENT: February 9, 1942
SERVICE NUMBER: O-1309997
UNIT: Company G, 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division

FAMILY: Born to Walter S. (1887-1961) and Ethel H. Raymond Wason (1890-1972). Two brothers, Robert C. (1916-2006) and Richard R. (1925-1990). Three sisters, Dorothy R. (1914-1922), Mary Jane E. Wason Stevenson (1921-2001), and Marjory L. Wason Franklin (1922-2001).

CIRCUMSTANCES: Lt Wason died of wounds received in France during the Normandy invasion.

DECORATIONS: Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (see below) and the Purple Heart Medal

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Greenwich High School, Class of 1937

More information needed

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From the Connecticut Military Portrait Collection, Connecticut State Library, Identifier: PG570; used with permission

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From militaryhallofhonor.com: On 9 June 1944, Second Lieutenant Donald Bryant Wason was serving with Company G, 2nd Battalion, attached to Company L, 3rd Battalion, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, U.S. Army in the European Theater of Operations. On that day, 2Lt Wason’s unit was in action against German forces in France. Commanding a rifle platoon of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, 2Lt Wason led the initial charge across the bridge and causeway over the Merderet River. The assault was launched in the face of heavy cross-fire from German machine guns nested in emplacements at the western end of the causeway. Setting an example of exemplary courage and initiative, 2Lt Wason ran across the causeway and headed for the nearest machine gun nest. After wiping it out with grenades, 2Lt Wason was killed by a German rifleman. 2Lt Wason’s bold action set an example for others to follow by his winning the bridgehead in one of the bitterest battles fought during the early phase of the liberation. 2Lt Wason’s courageous actions and extraordinary heroism that day earned him, at the cost of his life, the U.S. Army’s second-highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross.

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Distinguished Service Cross Citation
United States Army equivalent of the Silver Star Medal (Navy, Air Force)

Second Lieutenant Donald B. Wason, (Army Serial No. 01309997), Infantry, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in action on 9 June 1944 in Normandy. Second Lieutenant Wason, commanding a rifle platoon of a glider infantry regiment, led the initial charge across the bridge and causeway over the Merderet River. The assault was launched in the face of heavy crossfire from enemy machine guns nested in emplacements at the western end of the causeway. Setting an example of exemplary courage and initiative, Second Lieutenant Wason raced over the causeway and headed for the nearest machine gun nest. He wiped it out with grenades, and in the performance of this heroic action was killed by an enemy rifleman. His intrepidity set an example for others to parallel in the winning of the bridgehead in one of the bitterest battles fought during the early phase of the liberation. Entered military service from Connecticut.

Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, Army, General Orders No. 79 (August 8, 1944)

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From The All Americans in World War II, A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War by Phil Nordyke

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From an e-mail exchange between the webmaster and Chris Daly, Phoenix, Arizona, son of Lt Wason’s cousin (used with permission)

Don left a deep impression on my mother. If I could leave you with just one thought she had about Don, it was this: ‘He might have been the best of them all.’

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Lt Wason is buried in Long Island National Cemetery, 2040 Wellwood Avenue, East Farmingdale, New York; Section H, Site 8552. Photo by webmaster.

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